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Donostia-San Sebastian. More than 150 people in Berlin ran to melt the snow, thanks to the Basque club that brought Korrika 18 to the German capital.  “The forecast said that the temperature would fall below zero, but all that was needed were gloves and hats to not miss the event that takes place once every two years,” according to club sources.

The race that was a little more than two kilometers, from the Ostbanhof train station to the Kreuzberg neighborhood. The euskaltzales ran at a good pace along the East Side Gallery, the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall that is still standing and has been converted into a graffiti gallery.  Tourists that were in the area took advantage of the opportunity to take pictures of the runners.

Participants included the children of the Basques of Berlin, the workers at the Clash bar, Basque language students at the club and the University, the organizers of the Latinokino festival, members of the Bethanien cultural center and members of the Basque club. When they reached their goal, the Schlesisches Tor, participants regained their strength with hot porrusalda at the TEK association in Kreuzberg.

In Mexico at night.

Last Monday, Korrika 18 arrived in Mexico thanks to the Basque language and culture lecturer at the UNAM but this weekend the Basque lecturer at the Iberoamericana University, Nerea Basterretxea, organized a new activity this time at night in the most tourist areas of the city.  “I proposed that my students film a Korrika video in Garibaldi, and there we are, among the mariachis, several students from the ibero, some former students and many friends,” said Nerea.

[The night-owls in Mexico along with the mariachi (photo NBasterretxea)]

“In the beginning, the idea was to film the video in Tenampa, the famous bar in Garibaldi, since we had already asked permission to do so, but once we got there they were filming a soap opera and they sent us outside.  We filmed there in the plaza with the mariachis and everything.  They thought we were crazy!” Nerea confessed.

San Francisco, Brno, Valencia...

In the US, the Basque Cultural Center in San Francisco gathered a good number of euskaltzales that celebrated Korrika 18 in one of the city parks.  The good weather and desire to participate help the success of the day.  More photos are on the SFBCC Facebook.

[Participants in San Francisco’s Korrika 18 (photo BCC)]

[Korrika 18 through the streets of Valencia, Spain (photo EuskaltzaleokValentzia)]

Korrika 18 also made it to the shores of the Mediteranean thanks to the Euskaltzaleok of Valencia.  Some 60 people, adults and children, participated in the race through the Velluters neighborhood.  During the race they yelled slogans in favor of the Basque language but also in Valencian like “En València, en valencià!". After the event, the group had dinner with Euskaraoke at the Racó de la Corbella center, organized in collaboration of Laurak Bat (Navarrese Basque club of Valencia).  More images of the day are on their Facebook.

[Basque students in Brno holding the Korrika 18 banner (photo A Maya)]

We should also mention that Korrika 18 also made it to Brno (Czech Republic) thanks to the Basque lecturer at the Masaryk University, Ainara Maya.